I have to admit I am losing steam.
Very briefly - my point about weight was that a pro will beat a non cyclist on a heavy bike. In that case, it is not about the bike (which is how this whole thing got started - I was refuting the myth perpetuated by armchair non-cyclists that being a good cyclist is all about the bike).
Of course all things being equal, a lighter bike, will climb faster.
Obviously, manufacturers do wind tunnel testing because aero is faster, and because they want it to become even faster. No argument there. Again, I don't say it does not make a difference, I just say it is not as big as a difference as you think.
As I noted earlier, I ride both a TT bike and a road bike on a daily basis with other decent riders and racers, so I don't consider myself a non-rider who is ignorant about the sport. If you are really worried about how people perceive the benefits of aero, I suggest you go to Slowtwitch and become a vocal proponent of the benefits - as a large community of people over there must be pretty ignorant about it too.
I am happy to take your knowledge and personal experience into account the next time I consider how much of an advantage an aero set up - just as I have done so every time I read something new about in the past.
All that being said, we aren't communicating very well. And by now we keep saying the same thing over and over so I am not really motivated to keep going on about it as it seems we have a blind spot for each other's reasoning.